dtlove129
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Location: Decatur, IL

Straw around tomatoes?

Do you put straw or mulch around your tomatoes? If so, when do you do it. Mine are around 1-1.5 feet tall right now. I want to mulch them to conserve water and hold back weeds and I have straw for it. Problem is I also read that it is good to side dress them with fertilizer when they start blooming. If you mulch early how do you side dress them later?

mattie g
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Location: Northern VA, USA -- Zone 7a

I hate weeds, so I mulch (hardwood) as soon as they go in the ground. The plants are about 8-10" tall at the time, so I leave a little room at the base of the plant with no mulch - I fill that in once they're in the ground a couple weeks.

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rainbowgardener
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Yes, I think mulch is very beneficial for tomatoes (and other plants) for keeping down weeds and conserving water. I usually do it by the time they are around a foot tall and the soil has warmed up. (If you mulch too early, you slow down the soil from warming.) But I always leave a space around the plants. You don't want mulch too close to the stems - provides home for insects and can contribute to rotting.

So leave a little mulch-free circle around the plants. I add compost top dressing mid season or so. I just lift the mulch, put the compost down and then put the mulch back.

dtlove129
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Location: Decatur, IL

Thank you, I'll do that this weekend then because I'm pretty sure our soil is warm now. I'm going to put down newspapers too, but I'll be sure to leave a good 1 foot square around the plant where this is no paper and can just pull back the straw later to feed them.

MaryDel
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Location: Delaware

I only use straw late in the season when I want to keep my plants cool. Straw mulch put down too early can stop the ground from warming up and slow down your growth.


I grow all my toms on black plastic. By the time I start getting toms, I pull the plastic and I lay on straw. You can fertilize right through it no problem.

2cents
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Location: Ohio

dtlove129
The newspaper works well to hold in moisture.
I've not used this method for many year, our youngest just started a paper route(plenty of extra papers)
I will get the newpaper within 3-4 inches of the stem. Once the plants are over 6 inch tall
The foliage will block(sun from weeds) most of the base from needing mulch
RG makes a good point, you can always pull the newspaper back to add compost later

lily51
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Location: Ohio, Zone 5

We have used straw around tomatoes for years, as my husbands family did when he grew up, and so on backwards.
It holds in moisture and cuts down weeds. One of the popular new methods of gardening is straw bale gardening, so it must be ok.

albucsfan
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Location: North Alabama

The last couple of years I have been using newspaper covered in leaf litter. Because we have 3 or 4 acres of hardwood forest that doesn't get raked unless I am collecting mulch, that's what I use... I was concerned that being mostly oak leaves would add too much acid to soil as it broke down but I haven't had much problem yet :) . There are a very few weeds that can get through that (although nutsedge will poke right through the newspaper... Even 6 or 8 sheets thick!!!) I have the happiest tomato plants I have ever had this year.... Weather, luck, or something I did I couldn't say, but every time I move a wheelbarrow full of leaves I bring a couple doxen works with it... Maybe that is what's helping??

albucsfan
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albucsfan wrote:The last couple of years I have been using newspaper covered in leaf litter. Because we have 3 or 4 acres of hardwood forest that doesn't get raked unless I am collecting mulch, that's what I use... I was concerned that being mostly oak leaves would add too much acid to soil as it broke down but I haven't had much problem yet :) . There are a very few weeds that can get through that (although nutsedge will poke right through the newspaper... Even 6 or 8 sheets thick!!!) I have the happiest tomato plants I have ever had this year.... Weather, luck, or something I did I couldn't say, but every time I move a wheelbarrow full of leaves I bring a couple doxen works with it... Maybe that is what's helping??
Stupid auto-correct.... Dozen worms even!!! Makes more sense that way!!



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